


The Abyss

by Vialana



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Team Bonding, Voltron Week 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 02:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7740127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vialana/pseuds/Vialana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro stared up at the Black Lion and, for the first time since laying eyes on the wondrous creature, felt fear.</p>
<p>For Voltron Week 2016 on Tumblr<br/>Day 2 Prompt: Lions/Voltron</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Abyss

**Author's Note:**

> Set post season 1

Once everything had calmed down and all of the paladins had been retrieved from their unexpected sojourns to parts unknown via unstable wormhole, Shiro finally took a moment to breathe.

His team was safe. The castle was secure. No one had been severely injured or traumatised by the wormhole explosion that tore the team apart. The Lions were snug in their hangers, undergoing repairs while the castle ship did its best to avoid major Galran outposts in the mean time. Everything was fine.

So why was Shiro still feeling so apprehensive?

The Galra threat was always a shadow looming over their heads and Shiro knew he sometimes reacted badly to that familiar oppression. But this was different. This was a feeling in his gut that twisted his insides and made him doubt.

He could almost feel the tank ejection button beneath his fingertips again.

No, it couldn’t be Sendak, not again. Not still.

Just to be sure, Shiro took this slow quiet moment to patrol the ship and check on his team – his family.

Pidge was nodding off at her laptop, curled up by her Lion. She blinked and smiled up at Shiro as he tucked the ever present blanket she’d stored in the hanger for these nights around her shoulders. He returned the smile, gently removing her glasses as she finally succumbed to sleep. He patted the Green Lion’s paw as he left.

The hallways were empty, echoing. The ship was powered down in non-essential areas; hallways not in constant use were chilled and the air thin. Shiro searched them all thoroughly just in case.

Allura was in the training room, three training bots attacking her. She cut them down with a strength and grace that Shiro envied. More appeared to replace their fallen brethren and she moved to defence with ease between one breath and the next, flicking one bot away as its kick met her forearm. It crashed into the wall and she was already chopping at the neck of another. She was breathtaking to watch. Shiro could have stood there for hours, memorising the way she moved.

Perhaps, if he stepped forward into the room rather than haunting the doorway, she would invite him to join her. They could stand back to back, trusting each other as they took down hordes. Shiro could almost taste the sweat on his lips as he imagined their battle.

Instead, he stepped away and left her to her training.

Coran was in navigation, directing some of the ship’s repairs from the main console while the auto-pilot navigated them through their new route. Perhaps not surprisingly, Coran seemed to understand Shiro’s mood when he nodded in greeting to the pilot when he joined him in the room. Shiro wondered how many battles Coran had seen before being locked behind cryo-glass for ten thousand years. He wondered if it mattered.

The kitchen was empty. It was almost the ship’s equivalent to midnight. Shiro drank a glass of water before moving on. He still wasn’t used to the taste of the ship’s synthesised water. The potent Galran additives had become the norm after a few months. He wasn’t used to such clarity of thought either. It seemed a good trade.

Hunk, Lance and Keith were in the meeting room, hunched over the table, playing some sort of card game.

Hunk was groaning. “He cheats, he always cheats.”

Lance was laughing, almost maniacally. “Ha ha, you wish. I’m just that good.”

And Keith … “Oh yeah?” He threw down his hand, smirking at Lance’s choked indignation. “Who’s that good?”

Hunk started laughing, leaning over to slap Keith on the back as they enjoyed Lance’s howls of protest. Keith joined in the laughter, eyes shining and body loose, free of tension. He leaned into Hunk’s grip and didn’t hesitate to move into Lance’s personal space to continue teasing.

Shiro had been worried about Keith, when he first got back to Earth. Keith had always had sharp edges but, during his year of captivity, they had been sharpened to a knife-point.

Now, months into their roles as paladins, those edges had been smoothed over by laughter and tears and camaraderie.

Shiro left them to their game, despite Hunk noticing him lingering in the doorway and waving him over. He still had once place to look over.

The hanger was a huge echoing room that took Shiro almost a minute to walk from one end to the other. The Black Lion stood in the middle of it, dark and still. Shiro took his time walking towards it, inspecting every line of his Lion for damage and wear as he moved. He shivered in the cool air of the hanger, trying not to think of the twisting in his gut tightening with every step. The Black Lion’s eyes seemed to follow him as he drew closer.

He stopped before his Lion, looking up at the giant mechanical marvel and finally allowed himself to think about everything that had happened up until now.

Shiro’s hand – his Galra prosthetic – clenched at his side, fist forming around the absent hilt of a Bayard he’d only glimpsed during Keith’s fight with Zarkon.

Shiro stared up at the Black Lion and, for the first time since laying eyes on the wondrous creature, felt fear. His Lion’s yellow eyes studied him in turn and Shiro could not help but think it found him wanting.

He shook his head, breaking the connection, but his sense of dead had only increased.

They hadn’t formed Voltron once since all the paladins had been returned to the castle. Maybe he could convince Allura and Coran it would be worthwhile to stop at an uninhabited planet to train for a bit. The team’s synchronicity had probably suffered during their time apart. It would be better if they worked out any problems before running into Zarkon’s forces.

It was a solid plan. He’d bring it up with Allura at breakfast tomorrow.

Shiro glanced up at his Lion once more before swiftly looking away, heart pounding, and turning around to leave the hanger.

Behind him, the Black Lion stood tall, engulfing the large room with its presence, silent and watchful.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr under [ladyvialana](https://ladyvialana.tumblr.com/)


End file.
